A new venue for me at the Clapham Grand. Smallish and reminiscent of Shepherds Bush Empire and Koko in Camden.

OK support act (who's name escapes me already, so can't have been too good).

Vintage Trouble played a high energy set with lots of crowd interaction and invasion by the lead singer. He appeared on the balcony a couple of times, in a box, next to us, was carried crowd surf style and even managed a handstand on top of the audience. All fabulous stuff which was lapped up by the audience.

I'd forgotten how good the rest of the band are. As Mark commented, if they had a better back catalogue they would be huge, but for the time being we'll get by with seeing them every couple of years in small venues. Things could be worse.

Like him or loathe him (I'm a liker) Mark Thomas is certainly passionate about his subjects.

This focussed on the NHS; where it came from, where it is now and where its' future lies. An excellent mixture of humour and hard reality, under pinned by a series of open interviews with practitioners and senior managers. Excellent (and sobering) stuff

Like him or loathe him (I'm a liker) Mark Thomas is certainly passionate about his subjects.

This focussed on the NHS; where it came from, where it is now and where its' future lies. An excellent mixture of humour and hard reality, under pinned by a series of open interviews with practitioners and senior managers. Excellent (and sobering) stuff

8/10

We take the NHS for granted. Had the worst week last week. Daughter had a seizure on returning from school on Monday. She was born at 24 weeks and has a really complicated medical history with a 'shunt' in her skull which allows pressure to be drained, if needed. We immediately thought there was an issue with that and panic ensued - I could not hold it together when I was on the phone to the emergency services. I could hear the sirens by the time I put the phone down. Amazing. Operated on the following day followed by a week in hospital with utterly incredible nurses and doctors. Back home now and back to school today and all is good.

I cannot pretend to know the ins and outs of the NHS but it is the absolute lynchpin of a decent, civilised society. I'd happily pay more tax - as long as I knew the money could be ring fenced and used for the NHS...

We take the NHS for granted. Had the worst week last week. Daughter had a seizure on returning from school on Monday. She was born at 24 weeks and has a really complicated medical history with a 'shunt' in her skull which allows pressure to be drained, if needed. We immediately thought there was an issue with that and panic ensued - I could not hold it together when I was on the phone to the emergency services. I could hear the sirens by the time I put the phone down. Amazing. Operated on the following day followed by a week in hospital with utterly incredible nurses and doctors. Back home now and back to school today and all is good.

I cannot pretend to know the ins and outs of the NHS but it is the absolute lynchpin of a decent, civilised society. I'd happily pay more tax - as long as I knew the money could be ring fenced and used for the NHS...

Glad it has worked out, mate....the feeling of helplessness when its one of your kids is overwhelming....

One of the points that Thomas was making was that its not just the NHS that needs the extra funds. Social care and the general "wellness" of the less privileged in society also needs to be addressed otherwise the demand for NHS services will keep rising. Compelling arguments.

He also trotted out various stats about how good the NHS actually is (or isn't). We're well down the international "league tables" when it comes to cancer survival. 40something out of 50something for pancreatic cancer, for example.

I'm sure there are other views available and other stats before folk start jumping in...

Glad it has worked out, mate....the feeling of helplessness when its one of your kids is overwhelming....

One of the points that Thomas was making was that its not just the NHS that needs the extra funds. Social care and the general "wellness" of the less privileged in society also needs to be addressed otherwise the demand for NHS services will keep rising. Compelling arguments.

Ditto the first point.

Demand for NHS services will always rise. The longer it keeps people alive, the more chronic conditions they end up living with.